Southern Plate

Dishpan Cookies ~Have you baked for anyone lately?~

I suppose I’ve always had a soft spot when it comes to homemade cookies. As a girl, my mother made fresh homemade cookies twice a week, every week!

She didn’t realize how long cookies would keep so she made small batches and replenished them with fresh every three days or so. Seeing as how money was so tight with a family of five on a police officer’s salary, Mama kept the cookies coming because she didn’t want us to do without treats when we couldn’t afford store bought. If you ask me, folks eating the store bought cookies weren’t getting nearly the treat we were!

I would have a very difficult time telling you what my favorite cookie is. That would be like telling you who my favorite person is! Rest assured, I have plenty of very well loved cookie recipes up my sleeve but on Mama’s advice, I am starting with these.

This recipe makes one of my favorite cookies and also one of hers. A very old fashioned tasting cookie, this reminds me of something I had in our lunchroom at school as a child. The first time I ever had these was about five years ago. I was on a twelve hour bus ride to Dallas, Texas to attend the Red Hat Society’s National Convention. A very kind lady had made a whole passle of these cookies to bring aboard the bus. One bite and I knew I had met my new best friend! A week or so later she was kind enough to mail me the recipe.

Living up to their name, dishpan cookies contain all sorts of goodness and the batter is generally far too massive to fit into a bowl in order to mix. I mixed these up in my favorite red dishpan. Please note that I am making a double batch but the recipe at the bottom is for a single batch. Y’all know how I like to double things! Half the effort, twice the outcome!

These are a GREAT cookie to give away. They travel well, freeze well, stay fresh longer than most cookies just sealed in a jar on the counter, and they also mail well. Even better, if you like crisp cookies, just bake them two minutes or so longer and you’ll have them! If you like chewy, bake them just until done. My family can never decide if we like these crispy or chewy, so I do half of the batch each way!

Now I have a question for ya! When was the last time you baked for anyone? Nowadays with all of the hustle and bustle of our lives mixed with the fact that the closest most people get to homemade is something bought at a grocer’s bakery section, nothing beats the thrill of receiving homemade cookies or other baked goods. It is so easy to buy things for someone, but baking for them lets them know that you put a lot of thought, effort, and love into the gift. Show your appreciation for someone, thank a dear friend just for being them, or give a batch of these as a gift for a special occasion. You’ll be happy you did and they’ll be a whole lot happier!

I like to make these cookies LARGE. I make so many different types of cookies that several years back I decided to make each type of cookie a particular shape or decorate it a specific way. For my grandmother’s tea cakes, I cut them with a frilled circular cutter and sprinkle the tops with pink or red decorating sugars. For these, I measure out 1/4 C sized balls and bake them to be extra large. This cookie is sturdy enough to handle the larger size plus it is a nice little gift when you simply put one cookie in a cellophane gift bag and tie it with curling ribbon, as I did this morning when I attached them to invitations for my daughter’s birthday.

I have a little neighbor, April, who I know is going to be a happy camper when she and her sister come home to find these tied to her front door handle!


The ingredients list is a little long for this one, but well worth the effort.
 
You’ll need: light brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, oil, eggs, all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, quick oats, and cornflakes.

I just want to note once more that I am making a double recipe in these photos. The recipe at the bottom is for a single recipe and that will still make a ton!
In a large bowl or dishpan (like I am using), add sugars, vanilla, oil, and eggs. Cream well.

It will look like this….I forgot to add my vanilla!!!

There! Thats better!

In large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda

Pour flour into creamed mixture and mix well.

Now pour in your oats :) Mix again….

Now add your cornflakes and mix REALLY well!

You can stop when its well mixed…or in my case when your hand mixer stops working and smoke starts coming out of it. :) Throw hand mixer in trash. That makes the fifth one you’ve burned up, gal!

Drop by 1/4 of cupfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets if you want them to be the size of mine. If you want smaller, just drop by tablespoons or slightly larger, your preference.
Bake at 375 for ten to twelve minutes, a few minutes more if you want them crispy. These will stay chewy and fresh for about two weeks, but folks have enjoyed them very much even after that!

BEWARE OF COOKIE MONSTERS!
Take some to your neighbors, your kids teachers, your friends, or your Mama!
Dishpan Cookies

Dishpan Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups light brown sugar
  • 1 Cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 Cups Oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 Cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups quick oats
  • 4 Cups cornflakes

Instructions

  1. In a very large bowl or dishpan, cream sugars, vanilla, oil, and eggs. Add flour, soda, and salt. Fold in oats and cornflakes.
  2. Drop by ¼ measuring cup onto ungreased cookie sheets. This batter might be a little dry and you may have to moosh it together with your hands to get it into a ball when you put it onto the pan.
  3. Bake for ten to twelve minutes at 375, or until edges are lightly browned. If you want them to be chewy, bake a little less, crispy, a little more. I always double this recipe and do half chewy, half crunchy. They keep really well and are great for breakfast. *This freezes well both as a dough and as a finished cookie.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://www.southernplate.com/2008/10/dishpan-cookies-have-you-baked-for.html


 


“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, 

but their echoes are truly endless.”


~Mother Teresa

Submitted by Vickie. Thank you Vickie!



P.S. Here is a lovely photo of a cotton field for you! They are in full bloom now and just beautiful. If you’ve never been to Alabama, I highly recommend you come this time of year. Aside from the fact that we wouldn’t wish a Southern Summer on our worst enemy, cotton fields and all of our fall festivals and fairs are an experience not to be missed!


Related posts:

Cornetha's Strawberry Candy - And Southern Style Embarrassment
YooHoo Ice Cream – & Why we should love mean people :)
Peanut Butter No Bake Cookie Bites
Posted by on Oct 10 2008. Filed under Dessert, Holiday Favorites!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

133 Comments for “Dishpan Cookies ~Have you baked for anyone lately?~”

  1. Dianne

    Christy, I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed this recipe! I am donating cookies for children visiting Santa, for a local fundraiser, and these will be perfect. Since I am making them smaller, not only will it make a ton, but I am able to make them ahead and freeze until needed. I sometimes add various add-ins to vary the cookies and recently made a batch with pecans and cinnamon chips. Oh My!!! Everyone has agreed it raises these to a whole new level! Thanks again for sharing this wonderful recipe.

  2. Adrienne

    I have made these twice now and they are coming out cakey. They are still delicious, but I would like a cookie that is crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong? Please help!!

  3. DARLENE EPPS

    I MAKE A COOKIE ALMOST LIKE THESE BUT THEY HAVE BUTTER,OIL,RICE CRISPIES PECANS AND COCONUT IN THEM. CRISPIE ON OUTSIDE AND SOFT ON INSIDE.

  4. Jan Kalonick

    These are my very favorite cookies!!! We use the same ingredients as you have listed. Then we had cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, white chips, nuts of any kind, just about anything that you can think of or that you like. This is a wonderful, wonderful cookie to share!

  5. shellastew

    We use this recipe in my family around Christmas and add a bag of Heath Bar chips and chocolate chips. So good. I just made them this weekend and I think it was about 12 dozen with a single recipe.

  6. Kay

    Here I am making these cookies again…this time for the Kairos Prison Ministry.
    Prayers are an extra ingredient that I’m adding!
    May His grace abound in our lives,
    Kay

Leave a Reply

Image Map
Top Food Blogs

Grab My Button and Link to Me

Southern Plate
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.southernplate.com" title="Southern Plate" target="_blank"><img src="http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/southernplate/southernplatebanner.png" alt="Southern Plate" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Photo Gallery

© Copyright 2008-2012 - Christy Jordan - Southern Plate - All Rights Reserved



ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE.

PLEASE do not copy recipes and post on your site or use my photos without permission (see above legal notice). Blogging about recipes and linking to the complete recipe on SouthernPlate.com is welcome and appreciated!